NCAA season preview – CHA

By DJ Powers

October 4th, 2004

NCAA 2004-05 SEASON PREVIEW

The 2004-05 season will see a major change in the CHAConference. The University of Findlay announced in January 2004 that the schoolwould be dropping its hockey program at the end of the 2003-04 after eightseasons. The departure of Findlay left the CHA with only five teams and injeopardy of losing their conference automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. EnterRobert Morris University. RMU, located just outside of Pittsburgh, PA,officially made their announcement of adding a Division I Men’s (and later Women’s)Ice Hockey program back in October of 2003. At the time, the school didn’t knowwhich conference they would be playing in. Soon after Findlay made itsannouncement of dropping their hockey program, the CHA announced that RMU wouldbe added to replace Findlay. The Colonials will make their CHA debut on October22nd at Canisius.

Also announced was the relocation of the CHA ConferenceTournament. After two seasons in Kearney, Nebraska, the postseason tournamentwill call the IRA Civic Center in Grand Rapids, Minnesota its new home. BemidjiState will host the tournament.

Niagara University

(Number of NHL prospects on the 2004-05 roster: 0)

The defending CHA champion Purple Eagles will open theirninth regular season on October 9th when they host visitingnon-conference opponent UMass-Lowell at Dwyer Arena.

Niagara is coming off one of their most successful seasonsin their young history that took them all the way to Frozen Four Tournament.This season, they hope to continue that success, but have lost ten players, sixof them forwards. The most notable losses are former Hobey Baker candidate Joe Tallari and Chris Welch, both to graduation. Another significant loss was thatof sophomore-to-be Jeremy Hall, whohas transferred to UMass-Lowell.

Despite the numerous losses, the Purple Eagles will returnseveral of their top forwards including junior Justin Cross and sophomore SeanBentivoglio. Their most significant returning player however is lastseason’s leading scorer and arguably the best forward from the CHA last seasonin senior Barret Ehgoetz. Ehgoetz,CHA Co-Player of the Year last season and an early candidate for the 2005 HobeyBaker Award, was one of the nation’s top scorers last season. He finished the2003-04 season ranked fifth in the nation in scoring with 52 points (25 goals,27 assists). Ehgoetz was a model of offensive consistency for Niagara lastseason. His 25 goals and 1.33 points per game ranked him tied for sixth in thenation in each category.

Niagara will also get some offensive help from a group oftalented newcomers. Among the most notables are senior Kris Wiebe, who comes over from the now-defunct Findlay program, aswell as incoming freshmen C.J. Tozzoand Clifford Ketchen.Wiebe led the Findlay Oilers last season inscoring with 28 points (18 goals, 10 assists). Tozzo comes to Niagara from theNew York Apple Core (EJHL), where he had 86 points (32 goals, 54 assists) lastseason. Ketchen comes to Niagara from the Portage Terriers (MJHL). He finishedthird in the MJHL in scoring with 91 points (29 goals, 62 assists) last season.

The Purple Eagles were a very good defensive team lastseason, and also one of the least penalized teams in the nation. Niagaraaveraged just 12.9 penalty minutes per game, fourth fewest in the nation. ThePurple Eagles should be a solid defensive team again as they will return manyof their key defensive players including starting goaltender, junior Jeff Van Nynatten. Van Nynatten, whowas the CHA Tournament MVP, was stellar in the conference Championship gameversus Bemidji State and was instrumental in leading the Purple Eagles to theFrozen Four Tournament. He finished the season posting an 18-8-3 record thatincluded two shutouts. He also posted very good numbers in the categories ofgoals against average (2.81) and save percentage (.904).

The most pressing issue for Niagara coming into this seasonis the power play. Despite ranking as one of the top 20 offensive teams in thenation last season, the Purple Eagles power play ranked 49th in thenation at a dismal 14.0 percent. Another concern is increased offense from theblueline. Niagara got a mere 12 goals total from their entire blueline corps.Junior Andrew Lackner led alldefensemen in points last season with 12 (two goals, nine assists), while juniorBrian Hartman led all returningdefensemen in goal scoring with three. Niagara welcomes four incoming freshmendefensemen this season. Notable are TravisAnderson and Mike Novosad.Anderson comes to Niagara from the Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL), where he had18 points (two goals, 16 assists) playing in all 17 games last season. Novosadcomes to Niagara from the Nepean Raiders (CJHL). Novosad finished sixth on histeam with 48 points (12 goals, 36 assists) last season.

Air Force Academy

(Number of NHL prospects on the 2004-05 roster: 0)

The Falcons will open their 2004-05 regular season onOctober 15th when they travel to the Northford Ice Pavilion inHamden, CT to face off against non-conference opponent Bentley in the Q-CupTournament. This season Air Force will host the annual “military grudge match”versus Army on the weekend of January 14th at Cadet Ice Arena.

Air Force finished the 2003-04 season fifth in theconference, improving on their last place finish in 2002-03. After posting onlythree wins away from Cadet Ice Arena in 2002-03, the Falcons nearly tripledthat this past season to eight. Air Force will look for continued improvementand more success this season.

The area of primary concern for the Falcons this season isoffensive production and the power play. With the loss of the team’s top twoscorers from last season in SpankyLeonard and Shane Saum tograduation, the concerns are even more magnified. The Falcons power play rankedlast in the nation in 2003-04 at just 11.0 percent. In addition, the teamscored a total of 101 goals last season and the now-departed duo accounted for24 of them. With offense and the power play being such pressing issues, it willbe up to the returning forwards pick up the slack. One player that the Falconswill be relying on to lead the offensive charge is junior Mike Knaeble. Knaeble, perhaps one of the CHA’s most underratedforwards, is the top returning scorer for Air Force this season. He finishedthe 2003-04 season with 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists). One area whereKnaeble excels is in scoring short-handed goals. He finished tied for second inthe conference and tied for seventh in the nation in that category with three.The Falcons will welcome four incoming freshmen forwards including Erik Ehn. Ehn comes to the Air ForceAcademy from the Green Bay Gamblers (USHL), where he had 32 points (12 goals,20 assists) in 59 games last season.

Another area of concern is in goal. Standout goaltender Mike Polidor has graduated. Sophomore Peter Foster will likely be the Falconsstarter this season. Foster, the son of former NHLer Dwight Foster appeared in18 games last season, posting a 6-7-0 record that included one shutout. Whilegoaltending is a concern, the defensive corps looks very solid. The Falcons returnnearly all of their defensemen from last season. The two players who’ll beleading the Air Force defense are senior SteveMead and junior Brooks Turnquist.Mead led all Falcons defensemen in scoring last year with 19 points (two goals,19 assists). The talented two-way defenseman Turnquist finished second on theteam among defensemen in scoring with 17points (four goals, 13 assists). Hisfour goals also led all defensemen in that category. The Falcons will have fourincoming freshmen added to their roster including Frank Schiavone. Schiavone comes to the Air Force Academy from theChiliwack Chiefs (BCHL). He finished third among the team’s defensemen inscoring with 29 points (nine goals, 20 assists) in 70 games played last season.

University ofAlabama-Huntsville

(Number of NHL prospects on the 2004-05 roster: 0)

The Chargers will open their 2004-05 regular season onOctober 22nd when they host non-conference opponent Holy Cross atthe Von Braun Ice Center for a weekend series.

The 2003-04 season is likely to go down as the Season of Jared Ross at UAH. The Chargers leadingscorer had a phenomenal season to say the least. His torrid scoring pace andoffensive dominance earned him CHA Co-Player of the Year honors. Ross will beamong the many returning players to help the Chargers battle for the CHA crownthis season.

UAH lost only three players to graduation in forwards Steve Milosevski and Jackson Harren and goaltender Adam MacLean. While offensiveproduction from their top scorers isn’t likely to be a concern this season,spreading out and increasing the scoring will be. UAH scored a total of 92goals last season, which ranked them fifth in the conference in that category.Fifty-three of the 92 goals (or roughly 58 percent) last season were scored bytop defenseman Jeremy Schreiber andthe top line combination of seniors JaredRoss and Craig Bushey andsophomore Bruce Mulherin.

The Chargers will also have to address two problems thatplagued them last season — winning on the road and wins against non-conferenceopponents. Despite going 11-16-4, UAH won on the road only four times: at AirForce on January 24th, at Findlay in the season finale on March 24thand a sweep at Wayne State back on January 17th and 18th.Versus non-conference opponents, the Chargers were a dismal 1-7-3. UAH’s onlyvictory over a non-conference opponent came back on October 25thversus UConn. Interestingly, their three non-conference ties came againstformidable in Holy Cross, Northern Michigan and Maine respectively.

The Chargers strength this season will likely be on thedefensive side. With the departure of Adam MacLean, junior Scott Munroe will be seeing the bulk of the work between the UAHpipes. Munroe split time with MacLean last season, posting a 5-9-1 record in 17games played. Two talented incoming freshmen in Marc Naduzzi, formerly with the South Surrey Eagles (BCHL) and Paul Gibson, formerly with the St.Thomas Stars (OJHL), will be battling for the backup job. UAH will return allof its defensemen, led by outstanding offensive defenseman, junior Jeremy Schreiber. Two defensemen whowill provide some toughness on the UAH blueline are sophomore Jeff Winchester and junior Doug Watkins. Both finished last seasonranked first (113) and third (97) respectively in the conference in penaltiesminutes.

Bemidji State University

(Number of NHL prospects on the 2004-05 roster: 1)

The Beavers will open their 49th regular seasonon October 22nd when they host non-conference opponent Ferris Stateat the John S. Glas Fieldhouse for a weekend series.

For Bemidji State, last season’s ending was a very bitterpill to swallow. After laying claim to the R. H. “Bob” Peters Cup as the CHAregular season champions, they fell to second-seeded rival Niagara in aheartbreaking 3-2 loss in overtime. This season, the Beavers hope to remedythat. BSU comes into this season with some significant losses, particularly ingoal and defense. Goaltenders Grady Huntand Dannie Morgan, along withdefensemen Bryce Methven, Jesse Balsimoand Anders Olsson have allgraduated. Senior-to-be center RileyRiddell has been suspended indefinitely following a recent arraignment thatstemmed from a criminal sexual assault charge. Riddell finished second on theteam in scoring last season with 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists).

With the departure of so many key defensive players, theBeavers will be a lot younger this season. Nowhere will that be more evidentthan in goal. The lone returning goaltender is sophomore Layne Sedevie. Sedevie played remarkably well last season despiteseeing action in only 13 games. He posted a 6-4-3 record with a 2.70 goalsagainst average and .900 save percentage. Incoming freshman Matt Climie will likely challengeSedevie for the starting job. Climie was one of the top CJAHL goaltenders lastseason with the Truro Bearcats (MJAHL) and is ranked by Inside College Hockey as one of the top incoming freshmangoaltenders this season.

The defense will be solid but a bit less experienced thisseason.Despite losing three defensemento graduation, the Beavers will return five including seniors John Haider and Peter Jonsson. Jonsson led all Beavers defensemen in scoring lastseason with 13 points (three goals, ten assists). Haider finished second amongdefensemen in points with 12 (five goals, seven assists). His five goals ledall defensemen in that category. Two incoming freshmen round out the Beaversdefensive unit. Rugged David Deterdingcomes to BSU from the Sioux City Musketeers (USHL), where he amassed eightpoints (one goal, seven assists) in 57 games last season. Riley Weselowski is an offensive defenseman who comes to BSU fromthe Neepawa Natives (MJHL). He led all MJHL defensemen in scoring last seasonwith 60 points (20 goals, 40 assists).

BSU’s strength this season will be in their offense. TheBeavers ranked fifth in the nation last season in goals per game (3.64). Theyalso led the CHA in total goals scored with 131. With the return of nearly allof their top scorers from last season, they could again finish atop the CHA inscoring this season. Leading the offensive charge this season will be thereturning top scoring line combination of seniors Andrew Murray (CBJ) and BrendanCook and sophomore Luke Erickson.Cook not only led BSU in scoring, he was among the top goal scorers in thenation last season as well. His 23 goals ranked him tied for ninth in thenation in that category. Cook is also ranked among the nation’s best specialteams players. He ranked tied for second in the nation in shorthanded goals(five) and tied for seventh in power play goals (10). Erickson, the CHA Rookieof the Year, was stellar in his rookie campaign. He finished the season with 32points (12 goals, 20 assists), which ranked him third on the team. His 32points and 0.91 points per game both ranked him tied for fifth in the nationamong all rookies in each category.

Murray, the lone NHL Draft selection from the CHA, will be aplayer to watch this season. He missed 11 games with an ankle injury that hesuffered back on December 5th versus Wayne State. Despite the gamesmissed however, Murray was still able to finish sixth on the team in scoringwith 20 points (six goals, 14 assists). While he didn’t put up overwhelmingnumbers, Murray was impressive in his all-around play last season. His patiencewith the puck and outstanding passing skills, coupled with his size andexcellent skating ability made him the perfect compliment to his smallerlinemates. Another player to watch this season is outstanding incoming freshmanforward Blaine Jarvis. Jarvis, oneof the many excellent players coming into the NCAA this season from the SalmonArm Silverbacks (BCHL), finished tied for fifth on the team in scoring with 72points (29 goals, 43 assists).

Robert MorrisUniversity

(Number of NHL prospects on the 2004-05 roster: 0)

The Colonials will make their Division I regular seasondebut on October 22nd when they travel to the Buffalo State SportsArena to take on non-conference host Canisius in a home-and-home weekendseries.

Derek Schooley is the head coach of the Colonials. Prior toarriving at RMU, he was an associate head coach at the Air Force Academy andbefore that was an assistant coach at Cornell. Coach Schooley recently spoke toHockey’s Future to share his thoughts about the upcoming season and what can beexpected from the newest member of Division I.

“We’re going to be a new team, so it’s going to be achallenge for us every night. We have to come to work hard and play our best tocompete at this level (Division I) because we’re so young,” Schooley explained.“It’s like a team of rookies in the NHLplaying against the Stanley Cup Champions. We need to come ready to work hardevery day and just get better every day. I cannot emphasize that enough. That’sgot to be our motto is daily improvement. If we do the little things like blockshots, finish checks and work extremely hard, wins will take care ofthemselves. I just want to see improvement from our team every day. I just wantto see us get better in some aspect of our hockey game every day. If we can dothat we’ll be fine. It will be bringing young kids along and teaching them oursystems and teaching them how to be Division I athletes. Everybody’s foundationis good defense. You have to start from the goal out and work from there. We’regoing to be a hard working, in-your-face type of team, very similar to the AirForce Academy teams that I’ve coached, until we can get older, more experiencedguys in our lineup. If you can’t play good defense, you can’t win. We have toteach literally every system that we have to 28 new kids. It’s going to be achallenge for our kids to absorb it all. If we don’t compete and we don’t workhard, we’re going to get blown out. A successful season would be to justimprove every day and set ourselves up for the future. Very similar to yourtitle of your site, Hockey’s Future,that’s kind of where we’re looking at. The reality of the situation is we needto build this program to be successful down the road, and hope that there isn’tvery many bumps in the road this year.”

Four of RMU’s players have had previous NCAA experience.Junior forward Kurt Wright comesover from the now-defunct Findlay program. He had six points (four goals, twoassists) in 20 games played last season. Defenseman Bryan Mills, who’ll be red-shirted this season, is a transfer fromNiagara. He amassed nine points (one goal, assists) in 20 games played lastseason. Sophomore forward Doug Conley,who played with the Tri-City Storm (USHL) last season, is also a former Niagaraplayer. He amassed 39 points (16 goals, 23 assists) playing in 58 games forTri-City. Goaltender Joe Tusetplayed a year and half at Northern Michigan before coming to RMU. He sat outall last season. Schooley and his staff are counting on the four players toshare their experiences with and give insights to the many incoming freshmenboth on and off the ice.

“They have to show the way. They’re going to contribute morethan just on the ice. They’re going to contribute off the ice, just kind ofshowing the guys how to be Division I student-athletes,” said Coach Schooley.

With the great strides that the CHA has made in its overallgrowth and development its young history, Schooley understands how competitiveand difficult it will be for his team right from the outset.

“This conference is a very difficult conference to play inand a legitimate Division I conference. Our schedule is extremely challengingfor a first-year program. For us to be successful, we have to come ready tocompete every day and improve every day. This is a tough league and we’replaying a tough schedule,” said Schooley.

RMU plays its home games at the Island Sports Center onNeville Island near downtown Pittsburgh. While the Colonials home rink isunfamiliar to just about everyone outside of the Pittsburgh region, the man whois in charge of it is not. Dave Hanson, who portrayed Jack Hanson of the HansonBrothers in the film “Slapshot”, is the general manager of the Island SportsCenter.

“He’s a world class human being,” Schooley said of Hanson.“He’s nothing like the Hanson Brothers that you see in the movie. He’s a greatguy. When you bring recruits into the building they see that. Even 10-year-oldsthat have seen Slapshot get a big kick out of seeing him.”

Wayne StateUniversity

(Number of NHL prospects on the 2004-05 roster: 0)

The Warriors will open their 2004-05 regular season onOctober 16th when they host visiting non-conference opponentClarkson at the Compuware Sports Arena in a weekend series.

With their new season starting at home, WSU will belooking to address one of their biggest problems of last season right from theget-go: winning at home. In their home rink of Compuware Sports Arena, theWarriors were a horrendous 1-11-1 last season. Their lone home win of 2003-04came back on October 16th, 2003 versus conference rival Findlay. TheWarriors will also be looking to better their last place finish in theconference last season. They will see many new faces on their roster this year,as nine players were lost in the offseason.

The most losses are among the forwards. Five were lost thisoffseason, most notably Billy Collins.Collins, who opted to forego his final season of eligibility to sign with theMuskegon Fury (UHL), finished the 2003-04 season ranked third in scoring with17 points (11 goals, six assists). With the loss of so many forwards, WSU willbe looking to their returning players for increased scoring production. TheWarriors offense ranked dead last in the CHA and near the bottom nationally.They will however, return their top two scorers in sophomores Nate Higgins and Jason Baclig. The two sophomores were the only Warriors to havenotched 20 or more points last season and will be relied upon heavily to leadthe offensive attack this season. Imposing redshirted freshman Mike Forgie returns to the Warriorslineup after missing nearly the entire 2003-04 season with an injury. SophomoreJason Bloomingburg will make his WSUdebut this fall, after transferring from Providence and sitting out all of lastyear. In addition to Forgie and Bloomingburg, three incoming freshmen will alsoprovide scoring depth for WSU. Most notable is Tylor Michel. Michel comes to WSU from the Owen Sound Saugeen Greys(MOJHL). He led his team in scoring with 72 points (27 goals, 45 assists) in 45games played last season.

Defensively the Warriors will be significantly younger thisseason. Defensemen Nick Stodgell andAaron Hundt as well as goaltender Marc Carlson are all no longer with theteam. The blueline corps will feature only two upperclassmen this season injuniors Steve Kovalchik and Greg Poupard. In goal, WSU will returnsophomore Matt Kelly. Kelly, whosplit time with Carlson last season, fared better than his counterpart, postinga 7-13-2 record in 22 appearances. Kelly will get some serious competition forthe starting job this season as the Warriors will welcome an excellentgoaltender in sophomore Will Hooper.Hooper, a CHA All-Rookie Team selection last season, comes over from thenow-defunct Findlay program where he posted a 9-13-3 record that included twoshutouts (one of which came against his new team). Hooper also put upimpressive numbers in the categories of goals against average (2.64) and savepercentage (.913). WSU will have only one incoming freshman defenseman in Mark Bradshaw. Bradshaw comes to WSUfrom the Humboldt Broncos (AJHL), where he had 41 points (four goals, 37assists) in 55 games last season.